E3 2005: Satoru Iwata on the Future of the Games Industry

In an interview with the Seattle Post Intelligence, Nintendo president Satoru Iwata commented on the future of the videogame industry and talked specifically about Revolution, as well as the upcoming Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 consoles from Microsoft and Sony respectively. Although Nintendo revealed less information on its future machine, the company head told the newspaper that it cannot afford to release Revolution late. He also explained that Microsoft and Sony are fighting a technology war and Nintendo is not interested in joining the battle.

"In the first place, Sony and Microsoft are taking about the same approach for the future by making machines with powerful and sophisticated technology. Nintendo is taking a little bit different approach, and I think this is an interesting contrast," Iwata said. "Of course, we are applying advances in technology. But when you use those advances just to boost the processing power, the trade-off is that you increase power consumption, make the machine more expensive and make developing games more expensive. When I look at the balance of that trade-off -- what you gain and what you lose -- I don't think it's good. Nintendo is applying the benefits of advanced technology, but we're using it to make our machines more power-efficient, quieter and faster to start. And we're making a brand-new user interface. I think that way of thinking is the biggest difference."

Iwata said that Nintendo will try its best to make a great new console and that it will ultimately be up to consumers to decide if it's something want to purchase.

Microsoft leader Bill Gates recently said that Nintendo would be a "niche player" in the next-generation wars. Iwata responded to this statement. "Talking about the definition of the niche, or niche market, I really have the completely opposite opinion. The people the other companies are targeting are very limited to those who are high-tech oriented, and core game players. They cannot expand beyond that population," Iwata said. "We are trying to capture the widest possible audience all around the world. In other words, we are trying to capture the people who are even beyond the gaming population. So for that kind of company, we don't think the term "niche" is appropriate."

Satoru Iwata Iwata said that with Revolution Nintendo would not forget the core audience. It is in development with next-generation versions of Mario, Zelda, Metroid, and others. "At the same time, many people are looking forward to multiplayer games, and we are ready to provide more exciting opportunities by introducing them to Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection so that, with the Revolution, people in remote areas can play with each other as if they were playing with people in front of them," Iwata said.

Iwata once more hinted that Revolution will provide a new way to play games by way of a new interface. "Also, we really feel that we need to create something that is very unique and different from today's gaming -- something that can stimulate interest from those who are not playing today's games. ... What Nintendo is trying to do, therefore, is to create a new interface and new theme of gaming that can really address the needs of the current non-gamers," he said and would not elaborate further.

In the past, Nintendo claimed that it would release at the same time or before PlayStation 3. More recently, company executives from Nintendo of America stated that Revolution would simply debut in 2006, no longer pledging to beat Sony. Iwata reiterated those sentiments. "If the first entrant always wins the market, the Dreamcast must have won the race against the PS2, for example. There are many precedents like that in the past. The first to market is not necessarily the winner in the race," he said. "But we cannot afford to be too late. That's a very important point. Right now we are keeping many secrets, but by the end of this year, I believe we really need to express to the worldwide audience what the mysterious proposals we have are all about. Otherwise we will be in an extremely different position."